Nobody who can play wide, in other words, with the exception of Fabian; because all the rosters I see posted here are just round-ups of the usual suspects and we have seen that we lack wide play. We should play our 7 central players from our regulars, or their best available subs if not available due to club commitments, and Fabian Johnson at LB and 3 fresh players for the other 3 wide spots. My players would be Shea at LF, Wenger at RF and Hedges at RB. Give Dolo and Dono a rest. They have nothing to prove in Azteca Stadium. Let's see who can play wide against Mexico. We need to start building a team here that has the full panoply in the armory.
Oh man, wouldn't that be a hell of a christmas list? Sakai is a very good young prospect, just getting him would change the complexity of our team. If we can steal him he would force johnson to move up to the midfield. Ahh... wishful thinking.
My point exactly. Don't see Jurgen bringing in "?s" to Mexico. They might not be "?", but if they haven't even been remotely associated with the squad, don't see Jurgen changing that. Remember guys, this is three weeks ahead of our actual qualifying games. Another chance to work the kinks of our *normal* team out. This isn't Camp Cupcake.
Yep. The August one-off friendlies are always difficult to call, but as a base I would expect a very similar group to Klinsmann's most recent 23. I only have Wondolowski losing his spot since Klinsmann doesn't seem to like him, but I could also see Corona lose his spot easily if somebody like Agudelo or Shea gets hot. Howard, Guzan, Rimando Bocanegra, Cameron, Goodson, Onyewu Cherundolo, Johnson, Castillo, Parkhurst Bradley, Jones, Edu, Torres, Beckerman, Williams Dempsey, Donovan, Corona Gomez, Altidore, Boyd
Wenger - first over-all pick of the Montreal Impact. The first player they ever chose, period. Started life as a defender, plays forward for Impact. I'm thinking he comes in for Donovan as a sub who can play defence and wing forward. Maybe he replaces Shea. Not sure. Need to see him against top flite competition. Hedges - Started for the first time for Dallas in May and already scored two goals from the center back position. You can see him play for Dallas against Houston on Sat on ESPN. Watch and we can discuss later.
There is some insecurity amongst the Mexican Posters, they're not okay with us getting a free practice Qualifier. Hope we can capitalise regardless
---Dempsey-------------------------------Gomez----------------------------------------Donovan--- -----------------------Corona----------------------------------Bradley------------------------------- --------------------------------------------Jones----------------------------------------------------- --Johnson-------------Bocanegra-------------------------Goodson------------------------Chandler-- --------------------------------------------Howard--------------------------------------------------- B: Guzan, Altidore, Williams, Torres, Adu, Feilhaber, Gyau, Diskerud Although it's more of a 4-1-3-2 when Dempsey can't find the game.
If Corona wasnt deemed good enough to come into a Guatemalan game that needed a possession oriented attacking mid, u think he'd actually play against Mexico In Mexico? I'm not feelin it & I guarantee u Jurgen's not either
That is EXACTLY what this is. And should be treated as such. Which is why the experimental line-ups boggle my brain. We win here, puts a teeny tiny little seed of doubt in (not for qualifying, but just in general). Especially on the heels of some crummy performances by their national team as well. They've played just as bad as us. With their talent, some might say they've played worse. They were bailed out by a bad ref call in El Salvador (unlike the Advantage call we didn't get ), or else they'd be sitting on the same 4 points.
This isn't a dream roster but I'm mostly just expecting MLS and Mexican based players since the Euro seasons start just a few days after ------Adu-------------- Gomez------------ Donovan------ -------Corona--------Torres-------------- Shea--------- Castillo-----Cameron-----Orozco Fiscal-----Goodson --------------------------Guzan------------------------------ Subs Rimando MacMath Bornstien De La Garza Pearce Beckerman Bedoya Zusi Feilhaber Agudelo Beasley Wondolowski
well firstly isn't goodson and bedoya playing in europe?? i know guzan just got cut so im sure klinsmann will let him get his club situation stabilized again
Yeah but Goodsons season starts before this friendly and I've been hearing that Bedoya is going to get cut.
my reply below OK, so I just watched Hedges play for Dallas against Houston on espn2. He's a wingback, not centerback, as far as I can tell from this game where he played centerback. Probably he is the best athlete they have, so they play him where they have a hole. His tendencies are not to get in front of the attacker but to ride him which is indicative of a wingback. He is obviously fast and a good physical player. Probably better than Chandler but I'd have to see him play RB against top flite competition to be convinced. His defence will be solid and the speed is there but need to see the "close combat"qualities along the touch line on offense and control on crosses and drives into the box. We can't afford to sit around waiting for him to "play well with his club" like a Castillo, say. So I doubt we'll see him at all. b.t.w., the TV people said he scored his two goals on set pieces so far. He's 6ft4in tall. Sounds like a CONCACAF player, dontcha think? duh. JK will wait for Hedges to "play well with his club" and miss the boat while he cries on the dock into his boo-hoo hanky as the good ship Timmy Chandler sails away into the sunset.
C'mon man. I thought it was just John that got this kind of treatment ...but apparently its anyone who plays CENTERBACK for FCD. Hedges is Dallas' CENTERBACK. He is playing in place of Ugo Ihemelu. He is the 3rd or 4th CB on the depth chart this year but I wouldnt be surprised if he works his #1 when John vacates at the end of the year. Hedges is tall, nimble, dominant in the air, and strong in the tackle. He looks slow because he's lanky but I see him consistently beat forwards to loose balls in footraces. Hedges positioning needs work (hes a rookie of course) but he's looked much more sound when playing next to John the last few games as opposed to Pertuz today...(John out with concussion// Pertuz doesnt speak english) Hedges distribution is crisp and very John like when under light to moderate duress but when under a lot of pressure hes made some poor passes and decisions (to be expected from a rookie) Right now he's George John lite...which is to say he's damn good but smart money says he will only get better. Im glad to see that , unlike John, he's getting some attention and recognition early in his career..or at all. He is indeed worthy of keeping tabs on. Schellas Hyndman on Hedges: (after draft) "We were kind of surprised he was still available at No. 11," FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said. "He's strong. He's got great size at 6-4 and he has really good feet, good movement, quickness and ball distribution. He's also got a little bit of a bite to him that you want in your defenders." (few weeks ago) "He’s everything we wanted when we drafted him. You remember how happy I was when we got him,” Hyndman said. “It’s kind of an awkward situation for him because we didn’t really expect George [John] back, so now we’ve got another good center back. And I think Hedges has the capability of being as good as George but he needs playing time...... {in '09} when Danny Torres got hurt, {George} went in and he did a pretty daggone good job,” Hyndman said.“So he played his first year ..... and second year, he got better and better. .....I think again, the reflection of Matt and George is so similar.” Hedges on Hedges: What do you bring to FCD? "I think I can bring a lot of skills to the team. Great central defender in the air. Passing out of the back. Just distribution. Everything you would want out of a center back, I think I can bring to the squad." Any FC Dallas players you have admired? "I was a fan of George John. Just watching his game, I really liked how he played center back. I think he’s one of my favorite center backs in MLS." College Scout JR Eskelison on Hedges: Matt Hedges is the best defender from this draft class. He reads the game at a level that most players do not see until after a few years in the professional ranks. The main reason why is that Hedges was coached by one of the finest duos in the game right now (Kelly Findley/Dave Acosta) for much of his club and college days - Indiana United/Butler. The overtly obvious criticism of Hedges is that he looks awkward at times, which is true. He is not the most graceful athlete you will see on the field. But he is damn convincing in what he does do. He organizes a defense about as well as any player from college over the last four years. He is nearly impossible to mark on corner kicks. He intercepts countless passes into the attacking third with his long legs and positioning. And he walks into a locker room without an ego. He needs to improve his 1v1 defending to reach the level of George John, but he is the best starting point FC Dallas could ask for from this draft. Wingback...SMH
Well if I was a Mexico aficionado, I wouldn't like it either. There is no upside for the FMF. Yes the money is good but this is a freebie qualification game. You can bleed the younger US players and they have a better idea on what to expect. True, you can't deal with the altitude but the younger players now know what to expect the second time around. No upside for the MNT at all
Let's start with goals. Hedges has 2 goals in one month from CB position. How many goals does chandler have? Who would you rather have in the box on a set piece down 1-0 to Jamaica with 10 mins left in the game, Chandler of Hedges? Who do you think would win a foot race of 40 m? Sure, Chandler has experience on Hedges but that is now, what happens if Hedges gets the experience? From what I could tell, Hedges has faster feet than Chandler as well when it comes to poking the ball away from opponents. L Look, I can't tell you for sure how good Hedges is, based on the limited data we have, which is why I used the word "probably" better than Chandler. But please hold the trolling accusations and recall that the question in the thread is "New blood? Or Old Blood?". So let's not get all crazy just because somebody brings up arguments for new players when that is what is under discussion.
I didn't quote your entire post - which was really great b.t.w. - because I just wanted to say that I think you may have missed some context of my post which you were responding to. I had originally put up a lineup for the Azteca friendly (if it comes off?) which included vets in the center of the field -------Howard-------- ----Cameron----Boca-- --Jones--Edu--Bradley ---------Gomez------- and suggested we put in young players in wide positions to see who can play wide against Mexico. ie RB Hedges----------LB Fabian RF Wenger----------LF Shea iow, old blood in the middle and newbies outside to see if we have the horses JK will need to play the type of game he has in mind eventually. My thinking was that people like Dempsey, Jozy, et al would be unavailable due to club commitments. But, yeah, I'd like to see Hedges playing behind Donovan at RB as a back up to C-Dolo. The American Ashley Cole.
Hedges would get TORCHED if he was thrown out at RB against Mexico. Never seen him play that position either. He'll be a good player tho. I would put Lichaj there since he has epl experience and is better than Cherundolo now imo. Wenger is not ready yet but I like him as a good prospect.
Nobody is going to "torch" Hedges at RB if we are speaking about being torched by an opposing forward or mid. He is more likely to get caught behind his man in the box at CB - where he doesn't have time to recover - due to inexperience. His drawbacks at RB would be different ones. It is an easy position to play, it's just that not many play it really well. Would have to see him actually play the position. Lichaj is similar to C-Dolo. C-Dolo is still a smidgen ahead imo. Lichaj will be dealing with beginning of season at Villa with new manager which is why I didn't bring him up this time. We can definitely use him and he should have been called up for June quali's.
After this five game tourny the US played there is two things I take from it and I was sitting back wishing JK had called in DMB and Josh Gatt. What were missing is speed and width. DMB would be perfect on the lf dropping Dempsey back deeper to collect the ball start quick one twos and make that deep midfield run into the box to finish off plays. I think DMB defence and harassing would be vital in our high pressure he also has motor enough to track back and switch into positions that Dempsey vacates when he does go forward.
Bad ref call? If anything, that bad ref call was against us, so we should have won 2-0 since the "hand" that lead to El Salvador's goal was non existent. Both goals were good.